In a dynamic world, US leadership
in AI is paramount. Balancing this with the needs of the workforce
and creating the right opportunities should be a collective
responsibility.

The president took aim at balancing the
economy by driving the current agenda that will improve job security
for the American people. This coincided with geostrategic aims at a
time where national security has a closer link to technological
innovation than ever before. This is somewhat of a complex task since
rebalancing a workforce to keep up with innovation is something every
administration needs to do around the world, on an ongoing basis. The
process is dynamic simply because innovation is continuous and will
never stop.

Right now, as The US, Israel, UK and
some countries with whom we have shared values, face record
employment levels and thriving economies, the macro view is in fact
one of concern over talent shortages. One view is that anyone who
rebalances their career and align it with technological changes, has
a bright future. There are other views too, which I will discuss
below.

Fears about AI disruption:

Notwithstanding this bright future
where people can easily transition towards new careers, there are
thousands of call center workers, customer service agents, TECH
support specialists, taxi and truck drivers who fear their jobs will
be lost when AI comes to full swing. It is truly understandable –
but what about the opportunities? There are genuine opportunities to
change the world: changing career is just one of them. It just
happens, by co-incidence that most of our countries which I mentioned
before, also have incredible support systems to facilitate career
changes. Will we be able to balance the need for job security, versus
the opportunities to change and evolve in a way that results in a
win-win outcome? That should be our focus.

Will an AI related tax solve concerns?

Bill Gates proposed an AI related tax,
which I am not sure will represent an optimal solution. Indeed this
is something that will be heavily debated at the AI
summit in San Francisco this year. There has to be caution about
the idea of raising a concern in order to raise a tax. We have seen
this too many times around the world, where for example, carbon tax
and other environmental taxes were raised but did not really solve
anything. This explains the view of the president when he pulled out
of the
Paris climate accord – albeit that this is a topic of a more
complex nature.

Another view on the tax issue can also
be taken into consideration. Some analysts feel that in any balanced
economy, it is reasonable to expect that tax losses resulting from
lesser employee tax will be offset against higher corporate profits
and more savings passed onto the end user. The challenge comes in
cases where economies are not balanced, relying too heavily on
outsourcing as an income. But it raises the question: Should we
forfeit the incredible benefits of technology simply to protect those
who did not evolve? In the US, there is the perception that this will
not happen and that innovation at the right pace is always a
priority. My own analysis after being involved with France, Belgium,
the UK and Israel – is that most business leaders support this
status quo.

Turning to the opportunities:

We have seen examples of how every
possible industry benefits from AI. I am yet to encounter one sector
where we could not see an improvement. Here you can see just how many
industries are participating already – and how many new
job opportunities there was for new bot developers. Included in
our list of success stories are also governments and militaries who
adopted AI to serve the public better and provide better defence
capabilities. At a citizen level, we are proud to say that AI can
certainly be good for the environment, reduce our carbon footprint –
and hugely improve the issues we face with cybersecurity,
cyberextortion and fraud. We’re also seeing in the US, how hotels
are fighting back against the gig economy, by using chatbots and AI
to streamline their booking procedures and reduce cost in order to
become competitive again. Then, there are also numerous ways in which
the healthcare sector is improved and I would argue that by
virtue of both military and healthcare improvements, we are
managing to steer this boat in a direction that can benefit humanity
far more than the downsides associated with fears people may have.

Conclusion:

Change is inevitable and it is better
to change as a matter of timely evolution, as opposed to waiting for
everyone else to change and be the last country on board. The
leadership that the US and Israel demonstrated in the field of
technology is also key to their leadership in the world. It is
therefore one of the most important cross-party and multi-national
efforts of our time. The end result has to be artificial intelligence
that is deployed for the better of humanity, where conflicts of
interest are resolved early on for our common good.

About Avi Ben Ezra

Avi Ben Ezra is the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) and Cofounder of SnatchBot and SnatchApp (Snatch Group Limited). He leads the Group’s long-term technology vision and is responsible for running all facets of the tech business which includes being the architect of the platforms and UI interfaces. Avi has proven tech track record and 15+ years of demonstrated career success developing tech initiatives of organizations of varying size and scope. Avi possesses in-depth experience in developing digital market places within Fintech and AI.
https://www.avibenezra.com
Twitter: @avi_benezra